Blogging Tools & Resources
The ultimate list of the products, tools & resources we use on a daily basis!
We use a lot of tools here at Ricardo Newbold & Company. To make things easier, we have put together a quick go-to resource for you to use. The links are listed under the relevant section, so you can easily see which ones will work together for specific purposes.
Of course, some links on this page are affiliate links. That means we may earn a commission if you buy via our link. This in no way affects our suggestions. We only recommend products we know, love, and trust. Please read our disclaimer for more information.
Are you a beginner blogger (less than six months) who has been hustling and looking to get up-to-speed quickly with your blogging goals? Get the tools and resources you need to select the perfect niche, choose a blogging platform, and pick a domain name. Learn how to get a web hosting account, start a blog on WordPress, select a blog theme, write and promote your blog, all which will help to position your blog to make money.
Hey, you don’t need a private investor to get started with an online business. So, scroll down to find everything that’s required to start a successful and profitable blog.
Blog Mastery
This is the ultimate guide on how to get started building a successful money-making blog in any niche.
Domain & Hosting
To build a website you will need both a domain name and web hosting account. Buying a domain name alone only gives you the right to use that particular domain name for a specific period (usually 1 year). You need web hosting to store your website’s files. You can also buy both the domain and hosting from the same company.
NameCheap provides web hosting, affordable domain name registration, unmetered bandwith, free privacy protection, SSL installation and CDN.
Latest speed technologies is their passion. Unique security solutions are their specialty. Amazing technical support is always provided. Free SSL.
They provide blazing fast web hosting for businesses of all sizes as well as free account migrations. Free Domain & SSL (https) certificate.
Theme & Site Design
Your theme is the overall look, feel and style of your website. This includes things like the color scheme, layout and style elements. In essence, your website theme is a direct representation of your brand and has a direct impact on your users’ experience. Therefore, get a quality theme and page builder to give your site a custom look.
Here’s a WordPress theme that’s free, fast, elegant & customizable! It’s customizer powered, SEO friendly and compatible with major page builders. So, give your site a custom feel.
Elementor is surely the most advanced front-end drag & drop page builder. You can create high-end, pixel perfect websites at record speeds. Any theme, any page, any design. A game-changer.
Recommended Plug-ins
A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites.
A very sophisticated tool set for effective day to day & trackback spam-fighting.
Cost: Free
Speed up your website & boost your SEO by compressing old & new images and PDFs.
Cost: $10
Secure your website. Firewall, malware scan, blocking, live traffic, login security & more.
Cost: Free
Lightning fast and responsive social share buttons built to boost shares & drive traffic.
Cost: $29
Hacking, server crashes, dodgy updates or simple user error can ruin your website. Safely backup.
Cost: Free
A powerful and premium cache plugin that holds content in memory for faster website speed.
Cost: $49/year
Create your sitemap and improve your WordPress SEO: Write better content & enjoy an optimized site.
Cost: Free
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the highly effective digital marketing strategy of sending emails to prospects and customers. Effective marketing emails convert prospects into customers, and turn one-time buyers into loyal, raving fans.
Our number one recommendation for email list management. ConvertKit makes managing your email list and setting up autoresponders so easy. Create landing pages, embeddable opt-in forms plus segment email subscribers into groups. You won’t be disappointed!
Manage, create, automate, and optimize email marketing campaigns. Become an email marketing expert with advanced tools made easy for you. Includes live 24/7 support, landing pages and automation. The perfect tool for those who have a modest budget
Legal Pages
Are you blogging legally? Be careful because free legal templates don’t protect your online business. The basic, yet mandatory legal pages you need for your website include your privacy policy, disclaimer, terms of services, and cookie consent. Here’s where you can get them:
Easy, fast, and cost effective way for entrepreneurs & online business owners to become legally compliant. Top-notch contracts and templates.
Comprehensive. Easy to Customize. All-In-One Legal Policy Templates For Bloggers, Coaches, Marketers, Consultants And All Entrepreneurs!
Elegantly inform users that your site uses cookies and that you comply with the EU GDPR cookie law and CCPA regulations. Simple plug & play installation.
Images & Graphics
Web graphics are visual representations used on a website to enhance or enable the representation of an idea or feeling, in order to reach the website user. They’re usually professional photographs of common places, landmarks, nature, events or people that are bought and sold on a royalty-free basis and can be used / reused for commercial design purposes. Disable your reliance solely on free stock photo sites as you set yourself up for liability.
Here’s a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images and videos. All content is safe to use without asking for permission or giving attribution.
Using stock photos can really enhance your brand and give you a more professional aesthetic. This is where I purchase royalty-free images used on my sites.
Looking for stylish stock photos & strategic design assets to help you build a brand and grow your business? Save time. Save money. Stress less. Show up online.
Fiverr is awesome for cheap design work or other freelance services on demand. Fiverr is a great resource. Avoid graphic designing, writing, research, SEO or anything similar.
Canva is a free online graphic design tool with pre-designed templates. If we can create decent visuals for our website, then you already know that it’s extremely easy to use. Give it a try!
Using PicMonkey is a great way to edit your photos, add text, overlays etc. Their plans are $7.99/month or $72 billed annually. This design tool will really help your images pop and you’ll have lots of fun!
Amazing Blogger Courses & ebooks
You have a lot to learn. Once you finish the Start a Money-Making Blog course at the top of the page, you will want to sign up for additional courses to learn different aspects of running a profitable blog.
Creating a WordPress account and beautifying it is something anyone can do, but what makes you stand out is quality content and clarity in your thought. Sure, transitioning from an occasional writer to a full-fledged paid blogger is not an easy task. By now you have probably been blogging for at least 24+ months and hopefully earning anywhere from $1,000 – $4,999 per month.
However, there is so much more that’s under the hood for those who truly desire to become a successful blogger. Top of mind may be increasing both income and traffic. Below you will find the tools you may want to use to sell products, grow your list, and see your profits increase.
Powered-up Hosting
Stuck in the shared lane? It might be time to upgrade to a heftier hosting plan. Explore the upgrade options below — then sign up when you’re ready to jump.
Premium Themes
Premium WordPress themes are themes which have been professionally designed and coded, include advanced features, functionality and additional services.
Over 164,000 website owners trust StudioPress. The Industry Standard. Powered By Genesis.
Features the most popular WordPress theme in the world and a nifty visual page builder.
Discover 1000s of premium WordPress themes, website templates + email templates.
Lead Generation Services
Many businesses today are heavily dependent on Lead Generation as it generates traffic to their websites where they can convert leads into customers. Create custom sign-up boxes or landing pages to use for sales & increasing your subscriber count.
Extremely impressive WordPress lead generation plugin. All-in-one list-building solution that accelerates list-building efforts.
Generate leads, grow your email list, build your social media following, and reduce cart abandonment to grow revenue.
Show personalized offers, lead capture forms & segmentation funnels with a powerful on-site engagement platform.
Social Media Posting Tools
Schedule social media posts for multiple social media accounts ahead of time. You can’t be active by yourself on social media all the time, so using a social media scheduler helps you be proactive.
Grow your audience with a publishing, analytics, and engagement platform you trust.
Leverage content creation, evergreen recycling & smart social media scheduling.
Publish, collaborate, drive engagement & build authentic relationships on one platform.
Supercharge your social media marketing on both Pinterest and Instagram via this No. 1 tool.
CoSchedule is the only way to organize, schedule, and share your marketing in one place.
Schedule & publish content to the right channels at the right time. Real real time tracking.
SEO Tools
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing content to be discovered through a search engine’s organic search results. These tools help boost your rankings.
An easy to use web-based keyword research tool with in-depth competition analysis.
A well-known all-in-one toolset (with free learning materials) for backlinks and SEO analysis.
Get the data that will help you make the most precise informed decisions & grow your business.
Selling Digital Products
Best Platforms to Sell Digital Downloads, Printables, Subscriptions And More.
Inexpensively create a storefront. Sell direct to customers from your blog. Get paid directly.
Gumroad makes it super simple for creators to sell digital/physical products, courses, and more.
Leading technology for anyone to create an online store. Sell your store products anywhere.
Standalone Online Course Platforms
These are hosted platforms geared toward solo edupreneurs or small businesses that want a turnkey way to create their own branded site to sell online courses.
Transform your experience and know-how into a thriving knowledge-based business.
Create amazing online courses & membership sites under your own brand. Start your empire.
Sell online courses, webinars, downloads, and memberships without worrying about the tech.
Advanced Graphics
Create & enhance your photos, images & designs with Adobe Photoshop photo editor.
The world-class imaging and graphic design software that’s at the core of just about every creative project from photo editing and compositing to digital painting, animation, and graphic design.
Amateur Blogger Courses & Ebooks
You’ve learned a lot but no longer need basic courses. These are the best investments to make at this stage of your blogging business.
You have been blogging for more than 2 years and should be making around $5,000+ per month, and will have at least 18 – 24 months of experience. Now is the time to leverage what you know and increase your income by adding more products or services to your site. Below you will find the tools you may want to use to sell products, grow your list, and see your profits increase.
Product Carts
Whether you are running a membership site, a service business, a consulting or coaching business, selling courses or ebooks… ThriveCart will do it. It will likely increase your revenue, too, considering the professionalism of the checkout process and the pricing flexibility you have.
The no. 1 cart software that grows your income from existing traffic
If you are already selling online, Thrivecart can instantly improve your profits with their advanced selling features. And if you haven’t started selling yet, their lifetime deal price allows you to invest once for this excellent software and not have to worry about a fee every month. I highly recommend Thrivecart.
- Ease to set up products with flexible payment structures
- Powerful built-in affiliate program
- Direct integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Integrates with the most important platforms
- Embedding checkout carts directly on your site
- Awesome support and updates
Amateur Blogger Courses & Books
You’ve learned a lot but no longer need basic courses. These are the best investments to make at this stage of your blogging business.